Businesses confidence slides to a post-referendum low

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation's (REC) JobsOutlook survey revealed that a net balance of +10 were confident about increasing hiring and investment over the next three months, the lowest score recorded since June 2016.

The poll also suggested that employers are growing increasingly concerned over the state of the United Kingdom economy, with confidence in the general economy sliding to -3 from +6 in June.

The net balance fell from +6 per cent last month to -3 per cent in the latest report, as 31 per cent of employers now expect the economy to worsen and just 28 per cent expect it to improve.

This lowering of expectations should sound alarm bells, said Kevin Green, chief executive of REC.

Some 40% of employers said they had no spare capacity and would need to recruit to meet additional demand, although several expressed concerns about a lack of appropriate candidates for vacancies, especially in construction.

Added to this, the GfK consumer confidence index has fallen to -12, a post European Union referendum low.

But according to REC chief executive Kevin Green, employers are still anxious about uncertainty surrounding Brexit and the fall in economic confidence should raise a red flag for the Government.

'Businesses are continuing to hire to meet demand, but issues like access to labour, Brexit negotiations and political uncertainty are creating nervousness. That means clearly laying out what Brexit plans look like and how employers can keep recruiting the people they need from the EU.

"The Government must do more to create an environment where businesses have clarity".

'The added factor of dropping consumer confidence is putting some businesses on edge.